Power County ID Archives Biographies.....Davis, David William 1873 - 
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Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1920)

Hon. David William Davis


FIGHTING the battle of life with exceptional courage and typical American grit,
David William Davis, governor of Idaho, typifies in his career the ideal spirit
which, fighting against and contending with handicaps, meeting and surmounting
obstacles with the confidence of youth, enables him to reach the highest office
in his state through his own unaided efforts and self-developed capacities.
There are noble and immortal lessons in the story of the life of the man who
without other means than a strong heart and clear head conquers adversity and
achieves an honorable success, rich in the respect and esteem of his fellowmen.
Such men rise into prominence and become objects of high consideration in public
estimation only through the development of the best attributes of manhood, for
the accidents of birth and fortune and the adventitious aid of chance and
circumstance can do little to give them enduring place in history. The records
of the lives of successful men who influence and mould events is always
interesting and instructive and become even more so when they present in
combined view the elements of material success harmoniously blended with
completeness of moral attribute and unblemished reputation. Such characters
stand forth as proof of human progress—the illustration of human dignity and worth.

   Governor Davis is a native of Wales, born on the 23d of April, 1873, and a
son of John Wynn and Frances (Lewis) Davis. The family came to America when the
son David was but two years of age, locating in Iowa, where the father found
employment as a miner, later turning his attention to agricultural pursuits in
Idaho, where he spent his remaining years, passing away in American Falls in
1913. He is still survived by his widow, who yet resides in American Falls and
is vigorous and well preserved.

   The early boyhood days of David W. Davis were spent in the humble
surroundings of a miner's home in Angus, Iowa. Little opportunity was afforded
the youth in the way of educational advantages and when but twelve years of age
he began working in the mines, but such circumstances did not daunt the spirit
of the youth who was later to rise so far above his early surroundings as to
become an exceptionally successful business man and public servant, revered and
trusted by the people. At the age of fifteen he became a clerk in the store of
the company which operated the mine in which he had worked. At the age of
twenty-one he had become the manager of a store at Rippey, and a short time
later, in recognition of his business acumen and fidelity to details, he was
given the position of cashier of the hank there. It was there that he made his
initial step in the banking business and gained a knowledge of the business
which, with the passing years, has brought a substantial pecuniary reward and
the honorable and responsible position of president of the Idaho State Bankers
Association, which office he was filling when elected governor of the state.

   Failing health caused him to retire from active business and, tempted by the
lure of the west with its boundless opportunities, he spent a year in travel,
chiefly through Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. These journeys were made by
wagon and, by sleeping out in the open and "roughing it" in true western style,
he succeeded in achieving complete restoration of his health and strength.

   In the meantime he had also spent some time in the state of Washington, where
he had some land interests, and in 1906 came to Idaho, settling at American
Falls, where he continued to make his home until his removal to Boise following
his election as governor. In February, 1907, he founded the Bank of American
Falls and became its president, in which capacity he has since continued. In the
fall of 1907 the bank was nationalized and has since been known as the First
National Bank. Entering enthusiastically into the upbuilding of the community in
which he had decided to make his home, it may be said that largely through his
far-sightedness and sound judgment the possibilities of the great dry farming
district surrounding American Falls were first brought to the attention of the
public. With unbounded confidence in the future growth and prosperity of his
adopted state he evidenced the courage of his convictions by making liberal
financial advances to those possessing the same brand of courage as himself and
were pioneering a new country, and to many of whom this aid, extended at the
vital moment, meant nothing more nor less than the difference between success
and failure. In short, it may truly be said that to Governor Davis, more than to
any other individual, is due the credit for making the American Falls district
one of the greatest dry farming communities in the country.

   In his political faith Governor Davis has ever been an earnest advocate of
the principles of the republican party. In 1912 he was elected to the state
senate, where he made an enviable record for sound judgment, though he declined
to again become a candidate for the office. He served as a delegate to the
republican national convention in Chicago in 1912. In 1916, members of his party
recognizing in him a leader of undoubted strength, made him its nominee for
governor, and, though he was defeated in this campaign, it is a striking
commentary upon his popularity with the people of Idaho, irrespective of party
affiliations, that he lost by the narrow margin of five hundred and seventy-two
votes, while the democratic nominee for president, Woodrow Wilson, carried the
state bv twenty thousand. Again, in 1918, he was the party's choice for governor
and the huge majority given him indicated him as the people's choice. He was
inaugurated as the chief executive of Idaho, January 6, 1919. During the war
with Germany Governor Davis was extremely active in war work, speaking in all
parts of the state and acting as state chairman of two liberty loan drives.

   Governor Davis has been twice married. When twenty-one years of age he
married Florence O. Gilliland, who died in 1903; and on April 5, 1905, he wedded
Miss Nellie Johnson, a native of Illinois, who was reared, however, in the
Hawkeye state. They have become the parents of three children: Margaret Ruth,
David William, Jr., and Donald J. The Governor holds membership in the Methodist
Episcopal church and for many years has served on the official board of the
First Methodist church of American Falls. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a
Noble of the Mystic Shrine, an Odd Fellow and an Elk.

   The fifteenth session of the Idaho legislature, which closed March 6, 1919,
presented the largest completed program of results, based upon the suggestions
of its chief executive, of any legislature in the history of the state and
perhaps in the Union. By its action Idaho's system of government has been
completely remodeled. Nine commissioners, appointed by and directly responsible
to the governor, will supervise the civil administration of the state government
under a centralization of powers heretofore scattered between forty-eight state
divisions, an arrangement which will save to the tax-payers of the state vast
annual sums, while promoting greatly increased efficiency in the dispatch of the
public business.

   At the age of forty-six years Governor Davis faces a term as chief executive
during the state's reconstruction period, and in the minds of those who know him
best—even in the minds of his political opponents—there exists no doubt but that
the record he makes will mark an epoch of businesslike methods in the conduct of
the affairs of the state.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

IDAHO
DELUXE SUPPLEMENT
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920


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